Tens of thousands of weeping South Koreans packed Seoul's streets yesterday to pay last respects to former President Roh Moo-Hyun, who leapt off a cliff to his death while facing corruption allegations.

The liberal politician who held office from 2003 until 2008 committed suicide last Saturday near his retirement village, sparking a huge national outpouring of grief.

Some 15,000 riot police with shields were deployed in central Seoul in case of protests against the current conservative government but there were no immediate reports of clashes.

Mr Roh's supporters say authorities incited state prosecutors to launch a probe against the ex-leader, a claim the government denies.

"I think the former president was hunted by conservatives," said housewife Lee Ae-Ran, paying respects with her four-year-old son.

Mr Roh was a "President of the common people," she said.

Central Seoul was a sea of yellow, the campaign colour Mr Roh used before his upset election victory in 2002. Mourners sported yellow eyeshades and ties and the streets were lined with yellow balloons.

"You are my President for eternity," read one popular placard.

After a week of mourning which saw millions visit altars nationwide, the funeral was held in the courtyard of Gyeongbok palace, a reconstructed former royal residence.

Mr Roh 's popularity was low when he ended the single five-year term which South Korean presidents serve. In death, his reputation has soared despite the graft allegations.

The self-educated lawyer and rights activist was credited with easing authoritarianism and advancing democracy in a country which only overturned military-backed rule in 1987.

Deep divisions remain between liberal and conservative factions.

Mr Roh also pushed for reconciliation with North Korea and held a summit with its leader Kim Jong-Il in 2007.

Cross-border relations are now extremely tense, following the North's nuclear test and its decision to abandon the armistice which ended the war on the peninsula in 1953.

Prime Minister Han Seung-Soo in his memorial address said Mr Roh "spent his life fighting for human rights, democracy and the end of authoritarianism."

"We will strive to follow your last wishes for reconciliation, unity and a better nation," Han said.

At Seoul's embassy in Washington on Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Mr Roh's "dedication to democracy and human rights are values the United States and the Republic of Korea share".

Mr Roh's former Prime Minister Han Myung-Sook sought his inspiration in leading the country "from conflict to peace, as the two Koreas are headed to confrontation and hostility.

"And help us again so that our democracy, which is fading, may again bloom," the former premier said as incumbent President Lee Myung-Bak listened.

Around 3,000 people attended the funeral. Some opposition politicians shouted demands for Mr Lee to apologise for Mr Roh's death as the president walked to an altar to lay a flower.

Crowds watching the service on a huge TV screen also booed.

Mr Roh campaigned while in office to end the country's pervasive culture of corruption.

But on April 30, in a nationally televised spectacle, state prosecutors questioned him about six million dollars which his family members received from a wealthy shoe manufacturer.

Mr Roh, the country's third former president to appear before prosecutors, never admitted personal wrongdoing but apologised on his family's behalf.

Supporters including his predecessor Kim Dae-Jung say Mr Roh was publicly humiliated despite what they called a lack of evidence against him personally.

The official ceremony ended with a 21-gun salute. The funeral convoy then made its way through the city centre at walking pace, led by a national flag spread between four vehicles and a car carrying a giant picture of Mr Roh.

Mourners wept and threw yellow paper airplanes onto the roof of the hearse.

The funeral organising committee said that as of yesterday morning, more than four million had paid tribute at altars across the country. Police estimated the crowd in the city centre at 130,000.

Mr Roh was to be cremated at Suweon south of Seoul. The ashes will be taken back for burial near his retirement village of Bongha, close to the southeast coast, as he requested in a suicide note.

"Please don't have sorrowful feelings. Aren't life and death one and the same?" his note read.